Pensions Age article on Rana Plaza Building Collapse.

This is a short article I wrote on behalf of the Associated Member Nominated Trustees (AMNT) for Pensions Age magazine last month (sorry can't find on line link).  See my previous post
on this wholly avoidable mass killing.

"I’m sure that everyone who watched the TV footage of the collapsed Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh would have been shocked and horrified. The death toll is now more than 1100. The reasons for the collapse are unclear but there has been suggestions that alterations to the building were made without official planning permission and allegations of local bribery and corruption.

UK clothing retailer Primark who sold goods produced in this building (which is owned by FTSE 100 Associated British Foods) has offered to help with compensation payments. This is all very good but the question that pension trustees should consider at their next board meeting is this.

Have they done all they can to ensure that the companies they invest and partly own take all reasonable steps to ensure that their supply lines do not profit from potential death traps?

To be clear, the direct responsibility for Rana Plaza lies in the hands of its owners and State authorities. However, as owners of companies that have benefited from the production of cheap clothing we also have a duty.

We need to make sure that our fund managers know that not only do we care about what is done in our name and with our money but we believe it makes long term financial sense that we only do business with companies that can demonstrate they take all their responsibilities seriously".

My NEC report to UNISON Community Service Group Executive

In June I was re-elected unopposed as the Community General Seat representative on Unison National Executive Committee (NEC). Isobel (Izzy) McVicar the other Community NEC member was replaced by Janet Byran.

Izzy was the first ever female NEC Community member and had done a fantastic job on the NEC for our members and the union. I have no doubt that she will soon be back soon in a national position.

The first meeting of the 2013-2015 NEC was immediately after the end of our National Delegate Conference in Liverpool. This meeting was to elect our lay President and vice Presidents for the following year. I was really pleased that Maureen Le Marinel has been elected president of UNISON for the next 12 months. Maureen is branch secretary of the Lancashire police branch and is the union's first openly gay president.

Lucia McKeever, a nursing assistant is the new senior vice-president. Lucia is the first woman from Northern Ireland to hold this position. Maureen and Lucia are joined by North Yorkshire County Council branch secretary Wendy Nichols, as junior vice-president - making this the union's first ever all woman presidential team.

The first business meeting of the NEC was on July 3rd at the UNISON Centre building (our national headquarters) in Euston Road, London. At this meeting our general secretary Dave Prentis told us that mobilising for the NHS Rally on 29 September at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester - must be a priority for the union. It is also an event to defend the welfare state and public services. Which are key issues for Community members, both as workers and citizens.

Pay and the casualisation (such as Bank staff or zero hours contracts) of the workforce are the other campaigning issues for the whole union. Community Care and Support members have suffered from direct cuts in their wages while most of us have had “hidden” pay cuts due to years of below inflation pay awards (if any). Many of our members are also still on poverty minimum wage rates.

Assistant general secretary Bronwyn McKenna reported on a recent equal pay victory members in Scotland which will hopefully stop employers using ridiculous arguments to avoid equal pay justice.

The NEC has a number of sub-committees. I had been re-appointed by the lay Presidential team to be a member of Policy and Development sub-committee, an employer trustee on the £600 million UNISON staff pension fund and as a delegate to the TUC Congress. There is a great UNISON motion going to Congress on Fair Pay (not a minimum wage, not a “living” wage but fair wages including terms and conditions such as sickness benefits and pensions) which I will report further about soon. I was re-elected by NEC Link levy payers to the National Labour Link Committee.

Next was a series of elections by NEC members of Committee Chairs and vice chairs. During which I spent an hour stuck in a lift with 12 other NEC members. Which was not a particularly pleasant experience but as a Housing management officer gives me more empathy with my residents when they complain about lift breakdowns! (see picture above from inside trapped lift)

I am planning to make regular reports to Community members on NEC and sub-committees I sit on. The next NEC meeting will be in October. Please circulate this report to any Community members in your branch and let me know of any issues or campaigns that I should be aware of or can offer assistance.

John Gray

NEC Community General seat Member (and Secretary of Greater London Housing Association Branch). If any Community branches or members want to contact me please ring 07432 150 530 or email john.gray2012ATBtinternetDOTcom (personal blog "John’s Labour blog" http://grayee.blogspot.co.uk/ and Twitter @grayee)

How wrong public opinion can be on key social issues

Hat tip Redbrick "A fascinating paper published yesterday by the Royal Statistical Society and King’s College London – The Power of Perception - reported on a survey undertaken by Ipsos MORI which ‘shows just how wrong public opinion can be on key social issues’.

1. Teenage pregnancy: on average, we think teenage pregnancy is 25 times higher than official estimates: we think that 15% of girls under 16 get pregnant each year, when official figures suggest it is around 0.6%.
2. Crime: 58% do not believe that crime is falling, when the Crime Survey for England and Wales shows that incidents of crime were 19% lower in 2012 than in 2006/07 and 53% lower than in 1995. 51% think violent crime is rising, when it has fallen from almost 2.5 million incidents in 2006/07 to under 2 million in 2012.
3. Job-seekers allowance: 29% of people think we spend more on JSA than pensions, when in fact we spend 15 times more on pensions (£4.9bn vs £74.2bn).
4. Benefit fraud: people estimate that 34 times more benefit money is claimed fraudulently than official estimates: the public think that £24 out of every £100 spent on benefits is claimed fraudulently, compared with official estimates of £0.70 per £100.
5. Foreign aid: 26% of people think foreign aid is one of the top 2-3 items government spends most money on, when it actually made up 1.1% of expenditure (£7.9bn) in the 2011/12 financial year. More people select this as a top item of expenditure than pensions (which cost nearly ten times as much, £74bn) and education in the UK (£51.5bn).
6. Religion: we greatly overestimate the proportion of the population who are Muslims: on average we say 24%, compared with 5% in England and Wales. And we underestimate the proportion of Christians: we estimate 34% on average, compared with the actual proportion of 59% in England and Wales.
7. Immigration and ethnicity: the public think that 31% of the population are immigrants, when the official figures are 13%. Even estimates that attempt to account for illegal immigration suggest a figure closer to 15%. There are similar misperceptions on ethnicity: the average estimate is that black and Asian people make up 30% of the population, when it is actually 11% (or 14% if we include mixed and other non-white ethnic groups).
8. Age: we think the population is much older than it actually is – the average estimate is that 36% of the population are 65+, when only 16% are.
9. Benefit bill: people are most likely to think that capping benefits at £26,000 per household will save most money from a list provided (33% pick this option), over twice the level that select raising the pension age to 66 for both men and women or stopping child benefit when someone in the household earns £50k+. In fact, capping household benefits is estimated to save £290m, compared with £5bn for raising the pension age and £1.7bn for stopping child benefit for wealthier households.
10. Voting: we underestimate the proportion of people who voted in the last general election – our average guess is 43%, when 65% actually did.

UNISON Labour Link Forum 2013 - "Decent Pensions for All"

I was unable to go to this years' UNISON National Labour Link forum since it clashed with my local Councillor selection hustings (I was reselected as a candidate for West Ham ward in 2014).  Which is a great shame and the first one I have missed in years.

Top Greater London Regional Labour Link elected rep, Linda Bentley, moved our London region motion "Decent Pensions for All" which was passed overwhelmingly by the Forum.  Below is her speech.

"Forum, private and not for profit employers providing public services up and down the country are getting rid of their guaranteed defined benefit pensions schemes - and replacing them often with grossly inferior and insecure pensions.

Sodexo, The Pension Trust, G4S, the Social Housing Pension fund and even the national charity Barnardos

While other employers are planning huge hikes in pension contributions for our members if they want their schemes to remain open. This will in many cases lead to the schemes being unaffordable to members - who will just leave. - Which of course means that these schemes as well will simply close.

Forum, we must oppose these closures not only because we want our members to retire in dignity and not die in poverty. But Forum, our members are being conned out of their pensions by the financial services industry.

They say guaranteed pensions are too expensive? This is nonsense. The way they price pensions is outdated and simply wrong. They price so called pensions deficits by reference to the price of government bonds called gilts. Due to the current economic crisis these gilts are at a 200 year low. But why is this 200 year low price is still used to justify closures?

Forum, modern guaranteed defined pensions are as affordable now as they have ever been. For example the cost to employers of the Local Government Pension Scheme is fixed at 13% of wages. That is not unaffordable.

One other thing forum. Why don’t unions in this country help provide pensions as they do in many other countries? Is one reason why members in private companies won’t join a pension scheme is because they just don’t trust the financial services industry? Isn’t the provision of pensions something the labour movement should be at least looking at?

Finally Forum, in my view if guaranteed defined pensions schemes like mine only remain in the traditional public sector then our pensions will never be safe. We must have guaranteed pensions in the private sector – we must have decent pensions for all".

Future Directions workers out in force at the Durham Miners' Gala

From Today's UNISON eFocus
"Future Directions workers were out in force at the Durham Miners' Gala at the weekend, pressing their case for pay justice at the annual celebration of the labour movement.

The workers from Rochdale in Greater Manchester are taking industrial action, including strikes - most recently for four days - over pay cuts and slashed terms and conditions which could see some losing up to £10,000 a year.

Some 115 members are being forced to take industrial action by their employer Future Directions, a "community interest company" set up by the local NHS foundation trust to provide community services.

The workers were transferred to the new company from the NHS and local councils under TUPE.
When the action started in May, Rochdale branch secretary Helen Harrison said: "Our members provide a vital service to vulnerable adults living in Rochdale. They do a tough job, and now they are being asked to do it for even less money, on worse terms and conditions.

"Some of our members may lose their homes because of these drastic cuts. They care deeply about the services they provide, but have no choice but to take this strike action."

Messages of support and donations can be sent to Helen Harrison, branch secretary, Rochdale UNISON, 46 Richard Street, Rochdale, OL11 1DU. Email: unison@rochdale.gov.uk. Cheques can be made payable to Rochdale UNISON".

A Girl With a Book

Sign the petition and stand with Malala Yousafzai for teachers, schools and books.

Newham Carnival and Mayor Show 2013

Picture Collage from the Newham Carnival and Mayor Show yesterday.

The weather was glorious and the Show was packed out with families from all over Newham enjoying themselves.

Local Councillors were at the Community Hub tent where we took part in possibly the most important task of the weekend.

Handing out free Newham helium filled balloons to endless queues of awestruck young children!

Poor Pay More in Taxes than Rich

Hat tip to BBC Mark Easton tweet on this table left (click to bring up details).

The poorest 20% of households pay more of their income in taxes than the richest 20%.

36.6% against 35.5%.

Actually the poorest pays more than anyone else! I suspect that the Tory VAT tax hike may be one reason. Indirect tax rises punish the poor the most.

So - we are not all in this together!

Newham Labour Party Candidates for Council Elections 2014

Saturday 6th July
West Ham branches meet at the Old Town Hall, Stratford
East Ham branches meet at Newham Town Hall, East Ham

10am:

Stratford & New Town	Charlene McLean	Richard Crawford	Terry Paul
Manor Park	Jo Corbett	Amarjit Singh	Salim Patel

11.30am:

Green Street West	Tahmina Rahman	Hanif Abdulmuhit	Idris Ibrahim
Little Ilford	Farah Nazeer	Andrew Baikie	Ken Clark

1.30pm: Plaistow North;

Plaistow North	Joy Laguda	Forhad Hussain	James Beckles
Boleyn	Postponed

3.00pm:

West Ham	Freda Bourne	John Gray	John Whitworth
East Ham Central	Julianne Marriott	Ian Corbett	Unmesh Desai

4.30pm:

Forest Gate South	Dianne Walls	Mas Patel	Winston Vaughan
East Ham South	Lakmini Shah	Quintin Peppiatt	Susan Masters

Sunday 7th July
West Ham branches meet at the Old Town Hall, Stratford
East Ham branches meet at Newham Town Hall, East Ham

10.00am:

Forest Gate North	Seyi Akiwowo	Ellie Robinson	Rachel Tripp
Wall End	Frances Clarke	Lester Hudson	Ted Sparrowhawk

11.30am:

Plaistow South	Aleen Alarice	Neil Wilson	Gordon Miller
Beckton	Ayesha Chowdhury	David Christie	Alec Kellaway

1.30pm:

Canning Town North	Ann Easter	Clive Furness	Kay Scoresby
East Ham North	Firoza  Nekiwala	Paul Sathianesan	Zubair Gulamussen

3.00pm:

Custom House	Pat Holland	Conor McAuley	Rokhsana Fiaz
Green Street East	Rohima Rahman	Mukesh Patel	Jose Alexander

4.30pm:

Canning Town South	Sheila Thomas	Alan Griffiths	Bryan Collier
Royal Docks	Steve Brayshaw	Tony McAlmont	Pat Murphy

(results were also published on twitter @NewhamLabour. Hat tip stats to Ali G)

UPDATE: Check here Newham Council website for up-to-date list of all candidates